The Rowdy Ram: Johnny Young’s Twin Turbo SRT-10 Pickup Truck

Full-size trucks aren’t a frequent sight at the drag strip due to their lack of aerodynamics and less than optimal size and weight distribution, but usually, those you do see are packing a punch. For Johnny Young, the goal is simple: take his 2006 SRT10 truck and make it run eights. To do this he had a set of turbos added to a potent V10 engine from Hutter Performance. The result is a truck that checks every box for a fun street machine.

Young grew up being fascinated by racing, watching his uncle build many different vehicles designed to make a whole bunch of horsepower. That curiosity of the motorized variety grew and when he started his own high-performance journey the idea of building a wicked truck crept into his mind. It was the size of a truck and the power a big engine could provide that pushed him to building something, and the SRT10 was the perfect fit for his vision.

Young has owned his SRT10 since it was new, so at one point it was entirely stock before a steady progression of medications began. The truck isn’t alone in his garage, either … Young also has a 2010 Camaro and his wife a 2016 CTS-V that Hutter also has done work on.

The V-10 engine in the SRT10 has been totally worked over by the team at Hutter Performance. The 500 cubic-inch mill has a forged rotating assembly, Gen 4 heads that have been ported at Hutter, a custom solid roller camshaft and Jesel rocker arms. The intake manifold base was custom ported and is matched to the sheet-metal plenum they fabricated. A set of Injector Dynamics ID2000 injectors keep the E85 flowing into the monstrous Mopar engine. A MoTec C127 dash provides Young with all the data he needs as the AEM Infinity ECU keeps the truck running.

Young wanted to take the truck to the next level, so he had Hutter build a custom twin-turbo kit for the Dodge. A pair of Garrett 76mm turbos, Tial wastegates and blow-off valves all found their way into the mix. The boost is channeled through the engine and into a Dodge 48RE transmission that was built by Suncoast Diesel and a special PTC torque converter. Hutter built a custom three-link suspension to work with a reinforced Dana 60 rearend and JRZ shocks for the truck.

Building a truck like this is something that Young has always wanted to do, not to race a specific class, but to just have a badass truck that goes really fast.

“I went the route I did ultimately because I always dreamed of building a fast truck with twin turbos. My only real goal for this truck is that it runs in the eight-second range consistently. I’m not looking to go class racing. I really enjoy just playing with it on the street, doing some grudge racing, and just making laps down the track as fast as I can,” Young explains.

It’s hard to not look at Johnny Young’s truck and giggle with excitement as a racer. This pickup is the stuff that every racer dreams of at a young age — big horsepower crammed it a street vehicle. There’s something about the song a Dodge V10 sings with a pair of turbos and screaming down the track — you hear it one time and you’ll understand why Young built this amazing truck.

About the author

Brian Wagner

Spending his childhood at different race tracks around Ohio with his family’s 1967 Nova, Brian developed a true love for drag racing. When Brian is not writing, you can find him at the track as a crew chief, doing freelance photography, or beating on his nitrous-fed 2000 Trans Am.